


picturesque

by hericide



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Character Study, Established Relationship, Flashbacks, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Making Out, Mark Lee (NCT)-centric, Moving In Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-05 02:40:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17316512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hericide/pseuds/hericide
Summary: “This is it,” Mark says, pocketing the keys, “This is us.”This isn’t the first time that they are seeing the house, but they’re seeing it in a different light this time. Before it was just a beautiful home, now it’s their beautiful home.





	picturesque

**Author's Note:**

> this was...unplanned

Mark and Jaemin get out of their respective vehicles and meet between them, hands seeking each other's immediately. 

“This is it,” Mark says, pocketing the keys, “This is us.”

The house is quite large. The outside is pale yellow with tall windows on the front. It’s one story, but it’s wide enough to be comfortable. There’s not much of a front lawn, but the grass that’s there is lush and green.

“It’s beautiful, Mark,” Jaemin breathes, tightening his grip on his hand.

They both know this, of course. This isn’t the first time that they are seeing the house, but they’re seeing it in a different light this time. Before it was just a beautiful home, now it’s  _ their  _ beautiful home.

There’s a cute little brick path that leads Mark and Jaemin, still hand in hand, to the door. It’s just plain white, but Mark has the feeling that it’s going to get decorated it soon. Jaemin has a habit of making everything he touches his own. Like Mark, for example.

Mark leans over to press a quick kiss to boyfriend’s temple before twisting the key in the lock and swinging the door open.

He takes a tentative step into the house and Jaemin, not to be left behind, follows immediately. The two of them stand there for a moment, looking around the empty room and taking it all in. It feels much bigger now with the past family’s furniture moved out. 

“How did you even find a place like this?” Mark asks, head swinging to look from the living room to the kitchen.

Jaemin sets his backpack down near the floor, grinning hugely. “I’ve always had an eye for pretty things,” he singsongs, sending Mark a wink straight after.

Jaemin is flirting with him. Even after three years of dating and knowing each other for twice that length, he is still flirting with Mark. For about the billionth time, Mark realizes how terrifying it is to be in love with Jaemin.

It’s not because he’s a horrible, cruel person. It’s quite the opposite really; it’s terrifying because he’s so  _ good.  _ He is patient and kind, gentle, with a heart of gold. He is passionate about his interests and doesn’t shy away from learning new things. Jaemin, personality wise, is everything anyone could want in a partner. And god, Mark spent an entire year just  _ wanting _ , only to find out from a careless slip of tongue by Jeno that Jaemin wanted Mark as well. 

Jaemin being kind of drop dead gorgeous doesn’t make it any easier for Mark’s poor heart. As a devout Christian man, Mark doesn’t believe in any of that fate or destiny bullshit, but it’s almost like he was meant to fall in love with Jaemin. 

That being said, Mark has never known fear like Jaemin coming to his apartment one day after work and announcing that they need to ‘talk’. Jaemin spends a lot of time at Mark’s apartment actually, so much so that he has clothes in Mark’s closet and a toothbrush in Mark’s bathroom. He rarely goes back to his own apartment, choosing to be with his boyfriend rather than alone.

That’s what he wanted to talk about—moving in together. Jaemin tells Mark how he’s tired of paying rent on a place he never rests his head, and proposes that they find somewhere to live together.

It says to Mark  _ I trust you  _ and  _ I want to take this step with you  _ and most importantly, it says  _ I’m serious about us.  _

In shock, Mark stutters out, “So you’re not breaking up with me?”, and Jaemin just laughs at him before tackling him in a hug.

“I would literally never do that,” Jaemin murmurs into Mark’s hair, and Mark believes him wholeheartedly.

They both begin to look for places, and this is one of the first places Jaemin finds. They each take a day off work to visit it, and Mark falls in love with it instantly. It’s spacious but comfy, in a quiet little neighborhood on the southern outskirts of Hongdae. They’re close enough to explore the nightlife in a matter of minutes, but far away enough to be able to sleep peacefully, a luxury Mark had not had while living in the Gwanak District.

It’s further away from his job, but an hour on the subway isn’t too terrible when he would get to have this house, and have Jaemin in the house with him. Mark thinks of it as a decent trade off, and Jaemin contacts the realtor to finalize everything.

Even though they agreed and signed the lease towards the end of May, they move in the summertime. It’s a mistake; it’s hot as hell under the July sun and the air is stale, but if worst comes to worst, they could just run to the backyard and jump in the pool if it got too bad. 

The pool hadn’t really been a part of the plan, but the family that lived in the house before them had installed it. It only made the house a little more expensive. 

They could afford it anyway; Mark had just finished his first year as a professor at Seoul National University, and with Jaemin starting his final year of medical school and being months into his internship at the local hospital’s pediatric center, the mortgage was no problem.

It’s a  _ house _ , one that they own and pay mortgage on. When Mark had told his mother one day over lunch, she blanched.

“Mark,” she said, reaching around the grill to hold his hand, “You’re only twenty five. Are you sure this is a commitment you want to make?”

“I’m positive, mom,” Mark replies. He runs his thumb over her hand gently, “I want to spend the rest of my life with Jaemin. I have never been so in love with someone in my life.”

Mark’s brother Johnny, who had joined them for lunch, fake gagged loudly. “Young love. Gross.”

He consequently gets scolded by their mother. Mark only raises an eyebrow and points at Jaehyun, Johnny’s fiancé, coming back to their table from the restroom. “Is he gross too?”

Mark smiles fondly at the memory while Jaemin walks down the hallway. “I still don’t know why we need so many rooms,” Jaemin says.

“So many?” Mark echoes. “There’s two. And  _ you _ chose the house.”

“And  _ you  _ insisted on getting it. We have been sleeping in the same bed for three years, Mark,” Jaemin tells him. He turns around to face his boyfriend, “Why do we need two rooms?”

In a few years, when Jaemin graduates and fulfills his dream of starting his own pediatric practice, when they are stable and married, Mark would like to have a family with Jaemin.

Mark isn’t particularly fond of children, but he likes to see Jaemin with them. Whenever Mark happens to pick him up from the hospital, Jaemin is always smiling brightly around the kids. When he’s not giving check ups or evaluating the patient, he is ruffling hair, telling jokes and tickling the children. 

Jaemin’s supervisor, Yukhei, tells Mark that Jaemin is a natural. He says that he’s never seen someone so full of love, full of hope for sick children. He also tells Mark that all of the children are obsessed with him. Jaemin’s charmed all of the kids, even the ones he doesn’t treat, and there’s no doubt in Mark’s mind that Jaemin would be an excellent father. 

He doesn’t say any of this out loud of course—while Mark is very certain that he is in love with Jaemin, he’s had enough trauma in his adult relationships to learn to keep his mouth shut until he knows that the other person feels the exact same. It’s easier that way.

Mark’s brain completely glosses over the idea of marrying Jaemin. It’s not something he had ever thought about extensively—deeming himself not ready and not quite deserving—but after seeing him in a tuxedo for Renjun and Donghyuck’s wedding, it was a difficult image to get out of his head.

Speaking of Renjun and Donghyuck, Mark has yet to answer Jaemin’s question. “For our friends,” he says, like it was the obvious answer, “you know how they like to come and visit.”

Mark walks closer to where Jaemin is standing, looking out into their backyard through the window in their bedroom. “And we do live in Hongdae. It’s like party central over here. They might need to crash after a night of drinking.”

Jaemin snorts and folds his arms over his chest. “If Jeno ever shows up here at 3am drunk off his ass, I would kill him.”

Mark, now extremely close to Jaemin, reaches his arms out and hugs Jaemin from behind. “No you wouldn’t,” he argues, holding Jaemin tighter as he sinks into the embrace, “you love stupid Jeno.”

Jaemin turns his head to give Mark a chaste kiss on the lips. “Mm, I guess you’re right. I love stupid Mark too.”

Mark smiles at that, but doesn’t let Jaemin go. “We should probably start bringing stuff in. It’s,” he checks the time on his phone, “it’s 11:16, and it’s not going to get cooler any time soon.”

They walk back to the front of the house, and Jaemin bends down to rummage through his backpack. He pulls out his speaker, and after a little fooling around, I Could Be the One by Almond Soy begins to fill the room. 

Mark sends Jaemin a goofy smile, which is returned and accompanied by a murmuring of, “It seems appropriate.”

I Could Be the One had been playing when they first kissed, and the two of them sort of adopted the song and turned it into a stupid tradition between the two of them. It was the song they listened to on the way for Mark to meet Jaemin’s parents, it was playing when they first exchanged ‘I love you’’s, it was even playing that one time Jaemin got them pulled over for hanging out of the window when Mark was driving.

(In Jaemin’s defense, it was their first road trip together and he was incredibly excited. It was it was 2am and the highway was fairly clear, just dark roads lined with tall trees. Despite it being the middle of February and the two of them being in a car, Jaemin rolled down the window, stuck his torso through it, and sang Power Up by Red Velvet at the top of his lungs.

They had almost gotten away with it, but mid-Jaemin’s rendition of Wendy’s high note, the police lights come on behind them. Once the officer leaves, I Could Be the One is the next song to come on, and the two of them spend the duration of it laughing at their present situation. 

Mark got fined, but to this day Jaemin still argues that the ticket was more due to the homophobic police officer and not them putting anyone in danger.)

It’s an incredibly special song, treasured between the two of them, and Mark knows in his heart that he will play it whenever he gets around to proposing.

Mark opens the door and gestures for Jaemin to step outside first. “Let’s get to work.”

 

+++

 

Between the two of them, they are able to get all of their belongings to their home in one trip. Partly because Mark doesn’t own very many things, but another part, the bigger part, is because Jaemin drives a ridiculous, gigantic, bright red truck that has seats that fold up in the back. Mark used to hate it but it comes in handy now, when they have to move a couch, their entire bed, and their futon before 5pm.

Five hours later, once all of the boxes are in the house and in the correct rooms, Mark and Jaemin flop down onto the living room floor. In Mark’s carelessness, he bangs his head on the edge of the recliner.

He gives a small yelp and clutches his head. “We are ordering take out tonight. I’m exhausted.”

“No!” Jaemin almost yells. “This is our first night in our home, we’re not  _ ordering take out _ ,” he scoffs, like the idea is far fetched and completely ridiculous. “I’m going to cook something.”

Mark grins, familiar with his boyfriend’s stubbornness. He gingerly interlocks his fingers with Jaemin’s. “Jaemin, baby, we just got here. There’s no food.”

Jaemin turns on his side to face him. He ponders for a long moment, then heaves a sigh, the air dislodging Mark’s sweaty bangs. “Fine. Ordering in it is. Now help me set up the TV,” Jaemin says, beginning to sit up.

Mark tugs him back down and presses a soft kiss to his palm. “Can’t we just stay here for a few more minutes? I’m tired,” he whines, blinking his eyes and pouting slightly.

Mark knows the effect his affection has on Jaemin, and he has become quite familiar with the face his boyfriend makes when he’s trying not to give in. His eyes narrow into slits and he rolls his lips into his mouth as if not to smile. He looks kind of ugly when he does it, but his effort is always endearing to Mark.

Jaemin yanks away from Mark and busies himself with the bubble wrap around the TV. “That’s not fair,” he murmurs, ripping through some packaging tape with his bare hands, “you know what your aegyo does to me.”

“That was barely aegyo, Jaemin,” Mark states, rolling to lay on his side. He props his head up on his hand, nose crinkling in a big smile. “Do you want to see some  _ real  _ aegyo?”

“Absolutely fucking not,” Jaemin says, not taking his eyes off of the bubble wrap. It’s futile, because he can’t  _ not _ pay attention when Mark crawls over and rests his head on Jaemin’s thigh. Mark pokes at him until he has Jaemin’s full attention, then proceeds to exaggeratedly pucker his lips.

Jaemin breaks into laughter right away, placing one of his hands over Mark’s face. “You are so ugly,” he manages to get out amidst his giggling. 

Mark only pouts harder, jutting his bottom out a little further. Jaemin removes his hand from Mark’s face to cover his eyes. “Ew, okay, god. What do you want?”

“A kiss,” Mark parts his lips to say. He raises his head up and extends his neck to make it easier for Jaemin.

Jaemin huffs a sigh, pretending to be inconvenienced by his boyfriend’s neediness. He leans down to meet Mark for a kiss, but gives a startled shout when Mark’s hand comes up to hold the back of Jaemin’s neck to pull him down. His body twists and he ends up on top of Mark, knees on either side of his hips. 

Jaemin gives a little shriek of pain; in Mark’s idiotic display of strength, he made one of Jaemin’s feet hit the coffee table. He at least has the decency to look sheepish, the apples of his cheeks becoming pink.

“Sorry,” he says, embarrassed.

Jaemin folds his arms and leans back against Mark’s thighs. “Uh huh.”

“Come kiss me, I’ll make it up to you,” Mark offers. 

It’s a trap, Jaemin knows, but he is nothing if not a sucker for Mark’s kisses. Slowly, he begins to lean down.

Mark’s eyes brighten immediately, hands coming up to cup Jaemin’s jaw. “That’s it, come here,” Mark coos before slotting their mouths together. 

Even after all these years, Mark is still absurdly gentle. He moves his lips slowly, and Jaemin opens up for him so Mark can push his tongue inside. 

To Jaemin, Mark has no business kissing like he is. Mark kisses him like there’s time running out, like there’s a deadline fast approaching. It’s irrational—Jaemin isn’t going anywhere, and they have all the time in the world. 

Jaemin breaks the kiss to suck air into his lungs, because he  _ does  _ need to breathe, but when they reconnect their mouths, he regains some control over the kiss, sucking on Mark’s tongue in the way Jaemin knows he likes. He feels Mark melt beneath him, muscles relaxing as Jaemin presses into him harder.

For someone who seemed so reluctant in the first place, Jaemin sure is eager now, leaning his face further into Mark’s hands. He maintains the slow fluidity of the kiss, only pausing to pull Mark’s bottom lip between his teeth and tug gently. Mark sighs into his mouth, knowing one thing for certain; kissing Jaemin feels as right as breathing.

Jaemin tries to pull away but Mark is reluctant to let him. He uses his grip to tilt Jaemin’s head back, pressing soft kisses to the underside of his jaw. Mark’s lips make all the way down to Jaemin’s neck before he breaks free.

He tries to pin Mark with a look that means business, but with the way Mark is looking at him, it doesn’t seem to be working. Jaemin’s lips are red and kiss swollen, and it’s kind of impossible for Mark to find him intimidating at this moment.

Jaemin leans back against Mark’s legs, who gleefully notes that he doesn’t stand up. “What kind of people are we, making out in the middle of the floor like a pair of teenagers?” Jaemin asks.

“Normal ones,” Mark answers.

Jaemin offers a hum as his answer before rolling off of Mark and back onto the floor. He looks over to his boyfriend, who hasn't moved at all. "Are you really not going to help me?"

"I just moved a couch by myself. I think I deserve five minutes of rest," Mark says, waving his hand at Jaemin. "I'll help you if you wait."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Jaemin says. He gives Mark another lingering kiss before crawling over to the abandoned TV.

Mark watches him unwrap the remainder of the bubble wrap with a fond smile. He stays on the floor until Jaemin tries to lifts the damn television, all sixty inches of it, by himself. Mark springs up before he can drop it and/or injure himself, helping him adjust the TV to the mount.

Their eyes meet behind the television, and when Jaemin ducks his head, Mark feels like he falls in love all over again. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a few days ago at 3am because I was feeling soft and idk I really liked the way I wrote the pair of them so now it's on this account
> 
> omg this is my first fic of 2019 this is so exciting...I will be using this acc more frequently in the future
> 
> thank u or reading!!
> 
> 190105  
> -M


End file.
